page_title: Water supply and sanitation in Yemen
section_title: Water resources
hierarchical_section_title: Water supply and sanitation in Yemen / Water resources
caption_attribution_description: According to popular legend, Sana'a was founded by Shem, the son of Noah, not far from the mountain where Noah's ark came to rest when the flood subsided. Yemenis thus claim it to be the oldest living city in the world - upto 10,000 years old, and known to have been inhabited for over 2,500 years. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the walled city's 6,500 houses and more than 100 mosques make it a living museum of traditional styles. It was never easy to reach this "Hidden Jewel of Arabia" which is situated in the heart of mountainous Yemen. Yet those who did manage to complete the dangerous and tiresome journey on donkey or camel-back from the distant coast were awestruck and inspired by the city's tall, beautifully decorated buildings, its well-stocked markets and imposing walls, gates and fortifications.
context_page_description: Water supply and sanitation in Yemen is characterized by many challenges as well as some achievements. A key challenge is severe water scarcity, especially in the Highlands, prompting The Times of London to write "Yemen could become the first nation to run out of water". A second key challenge is a high level of poverty, making it very difficult to recover the costs of service provision. Access to water supply sanitation in Yemen is as low or even lower than that in many sub-Saharan African countries. Yemen is both the poorest country and the most water-scarce country in the Arab world. Third, the capacity of sector institutions to plan, build, operate and maintain infrastructure remains limited. Last but not least the security situation makes it even more difficult to improve or even maintain existing levels of service.
  The average Yemeni has access to only 140 cubic meters of water per year for all uses, while the Middle Eastern average is 1000 m³/yr, and the internationally defined threshold for water stress is 1700 cubic meters per year.
context_section_description: With renewable water resources of only 125 cubic meters per capita/year Yemen is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. This level is less than one tenth of the threshold for water stress, which is defined at 1,700 cubic meters per capita/year. Total water demand of 3,400 million cubic metres per year exceeds renewable resources of 2,500 million cubic metres per year, thus leading to a steady decline in groundwater levels, varying between 1 m per year in the Tuban-Abyan area and 6–8 m per year in the Sana’a basin. Today, there are between 45,000 and 70,000 wells in Yemen, the majority of which are under private control. No one can be certain of the exact number, as almost all were drilled without license. Agriculture takes the lion's share of Yemen's water resources, sucking up almost 90 percent, and it is estimated that khat production accounts for 37 percent of all water used in irrigation.
  Furthermore, climate change has apparently led to a reduction in the level of rainfall. For example, in Sana'a the average rainfall has declined by one sixth from 240mm (average 1932–1968) to 200mm (1969–1982) and 180mm (1983–2000).
caption: Sana'a, the capital of the Republic of Yemen, is supplied entirely by groundwater, with water levels declining by 6–8 m per year
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